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There seems to be many people jumping on the Free Tibet bandwagon, so true to form, a mini-demonstration has taken place in London, details here. I can only read what is available on the news reports but it all seems a little one-sided, i.e. everything is China’s fault. The impression I get is that many of the protesters are ill-informed and are as unaware of what is happening as their supposedly brainwashed counterparts within China.

Unfortunately, every party involved sees the situation one-way only which, I suppose, is not an uncommon human failing. The Tibetans see only bullying and repression, the Chinese see only unwashed and ungrateful natives attacking their enterprises, and for the human rights activists it is another opportunity to wring their hands in pious indignation, but this is far from being a one-sided problem. Add to the tensions, grievances and distrust a number of militants and trouble makers [Free Tibet, Tibet Youth Congress, Tibet Peoples Uprising Movement, most of whom, by coincidence, have never seen Tibet], then introduce an event which will focus everyone on the region and you have a recipe for trouble. There is an element of truth in what almost every party has to say in this dispute, and that applies to the positive as well as the negative statements but those truths only go so far and always stop short of the whole picture. Each party must take one step further and acknowledge all the problems and grievances which exist. Until a problem is acknowledged it cannot be solved.

The Chinese government is alleged to be exploiting Tibetan mineral wealth and the Han immigrants do seem to get most of the good jobs that appear. Meanwhile the Chinese government does provide an education system to bring the ethnic minorities into line with everyone else, but what often happens is that the minorities don’t seem to take up the opportunities which are there. I don’t know if this is the fault of the minorities or the fault of someone else, but I do know that in China if you are unable to speak, read and write Putonghua then you are seriously disadvantaged and for this to happen to someone living in China this means being marginalised for life. The PRC government has been in dialogue with the Dalai Lama but no progress has been made. There are militant elements at work among the rebels from outside China. All the above would appear to be true statements but none are the whole truth.

I’m not going to delve into detail of what should be done, that’s for the people involved, but without a sensible solution which satisfies every legitimately involved party, the best we can hope for is for the PRC government to keep a lid on things. But if that is all that is done then any underlying problems and injustices will fester and trouble will continue to erupt at intervals in this corner of Asia.

Here are some links to websites offering views, reports or insight into what is happening